Voting with Their Feet: Family Friendliness and Parent Employment in Australian Industries, 1981-2001
Abstract
Most Australian industries have instigated some family-friendly provisions, but
these vary. In some industries, the span of ordinary work hours has also changed,
requiring work on evenings, weekends and holidays. Have these changes affected
where parents work? Charting 1981 to 2001 Census data, we found that fathers
showed an overall decline as a proportion of employed men, with little difference
among industries. Mothers also declined as a proportion of employed women, but
with divergent industry trends. Retail showed a steep (7 per cent) drop in mothers,
following the deregulation of shopping hours. By contrast, the industry with the
most family-friendly conditions at the start of the study period (public service)
increased its share of mothers by 6 percent.